A Quick Pre-Lesson One, Question To Ponder...

Hi everyone! I hope you're as excited as me & looking forward to starting The Truth Project as a Horizons Church Life Group. I reallize that not everyone will be able to attend all 13 sessions - we'll gladly work with you and welcome you to attend as many as you can. We'll talk more about these details later...

Here is a seemingly simple question to think about before the first meeting- we will discuss this (in detail) during The Truth Project Life Group: Why was Jesus born...? For what reason did He come into the world?

Paul, in 1 Timothy 3:16, spoke of it this way: And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.

John, in John 1:14, spoke of it this way: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

I don't suppose we can properly grasp the full essence of what it meant for the infinite, holy, omnipotent God of the universe to put on the form of finite man and dwell among the living dead. The reasons for Him doing this are probably deeper than we could possibly contemplate. However, it is not as if we have to guess about this thing. God has given us clear testimony in His Word concerning the reasons why He humbled Himself and "made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." (Philipians 2:7)

Here are a few references that may pop to mind (there will be more during lesson one):

Matt 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Luke 12:51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.
Luke 12:49 "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
John 12:47 "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.
1 Tim 1:15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst.
1 John 3:5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.
John 9:39 Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."
John 12:46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Mark 2:17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 638 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

But the final reason I ask this question is to focus on the very specific words of Jesus as He was giving the "good confession" before Pilate. In one short reply, Jesus states why He was born and came into this world. Truly it is one of the clearest and most objective statements that Jesus made about the reason He came into the world. This statement doesn't override the others, in fact, I think it helps to clarify many of them.

I look forward to lesson one and going over this very topic with you all.

Laus Deo Semper!
Matt